Cigarette Butt Litter

Cigarette Butt Litter

Cigarette butt litter is always one of the top 10 items being found in clean-ups, particularly in urban areas. Most people don’t realise that cigarette butts are made out of plastic, so take an estimated 10 years or more to degrade into tiny plastic fibres. Check out this image by Responsible Runners Bondi who picked up a crazy 25,000 cigarette butts at Bondi Beach – a beach that actually has a non-smoking policy!

The campaign “Butt it Bin it” conducted by Victoria’s Bayside City Council with the Source Reduction funding encourages Black Rock Village residents and visitors to dispose their cigarette butts in bins to prevent that the butts end up in the waterways.

“Butt it Bin it” decals were recently placed along the footpath and at litter hotspots in order to remind smokers to adequately dispose their cigarette butts into the nearest bin. The decals were strategically placed in four places around the Black Rock Village on three different streets and point to the nearest bins. The stickers feature a snapper, photographed by P McDonald at a site near Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary, which was intentionally chosen to warn smokers that if cigarette butts aren’t adequately disposed in the bins, they can eventually be washed away and end up in the sea.

The litter hotspots were previously identified through methodical surveys by the Friends of Bayside Roads and the project was developed in collaboration with local groups. Alan Thomas and Derek Jones, in the photo, are members of the Friends of the Roads organization; they’ve collected 7 tonnes of litter from Bayside Roads this year so far! Well done guys!